Gross v Weston

The appeal in *Gross v Weston* concerned a defamation action brought by the plaintiff against the defendant. The core of the dispute revolved around the defence of qualified privilege, specifically in relation to a reply made by the defendant. The appeal was heard by Handley JA, McColl JA, and Hunt AJA.

The legal issues before the court included whether the content of the defendant's reply sufficiently alleged an improper motive on the part of the plaintiff, and what particulars were required to support such an allegation. The court also considered the relevance of the falsity of the plaintiff's evidence in the context of a section 7A hearing.

The court reasoned that for qualified privilege to apply to a reply alleging improper motive, the reply must contain allegations that, if true, would demonstrate that the plaintiff acted with an improper motive. The court held that the particulars provided by the defendant were sufficient to raise the defence of qualified privilege, as they pointed to conduct by the plaintiff that could be interpreted as demonstrating an improper motive. The court further clarified that in a section 7A hearing, the falsity of the plaintiff's evidence could be relevant to the assessment of whether the defendant had a defence.

The appeal was dismissed, and each party was ordered to bear their own costs.